With the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), it is possible to connect devices to one another over a network to share information. However, establishing a connection between devices requires a lot of user inputs, and there is a problem that security becomes weak when the number and types of devices that may be connected to one another increase.
FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a method of establishing a connection between devices according to the prior art. Referring to FIG. 1A, Jane's terminal 10 searches for a device within a predetermined range to establish a connection to Tom's terminal 20. Jane's terminal 10 displays identification information of at least one terminal and receives a user input to select identification information corresponding to Tom's terminal 20 from a user who verified the displayed information. Jane's terminal 10 establishes the connection to Tom's terminal 20 based on the received user input.
Referring to FIG. 1B, Jane's terminal 10 exchanges key data to establish the connection to the Tom's terminal 20. Jane's terminal 10 and Tom's terminal 20 establish the connection to each other by receiving an input from the user regarding the exchanged key data.
However, when the identification information of Tom's terminal 20 is displayed as a name that is difficult to be recognized by the user or identification information of other similar terminals is displayed together with the identification information of Tom's terminal 20, it is difficult for the user to easily select a device to be connected to. Also, even if Tom's terminal 20 is located near Jane's terminal 10, another inconvenience occurs as the user may establish the connection only by taking a separate action with regard to Jane's terminal 10 and Tom's terminal 20. Further, according to the related art, there have been problems as such a connection is vulnerable to an MITM attack via the same communication method and connection establishment procedure irrespective of a distance between the devices, and load of a server increases by indiscreetly transmitting information of a device to establish a connection to the server.